Refugio Oil Spill $70 Million Settlement Wins Court Approval

A $70 million class action settlement between California property owners and a pipeline company stemming from the 2015 Refugio oil spill was approved by a federal court.

The plaintiffs alleged that a crude oil pipeline built in Santa Barbara County in the late 1980s wasn’t properly maintained, resulting in hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil spilling onto their properties and into the Pacific Ocean.

• The settlement was finally approved on Tuesday by Judge Philip S. Gutierrez of the US District Court for the Central District of California; he gave the deal an early nod in May
• The agreement is ...